Golf formats you'd like to see at tournaments

With the announcement of the Zurich Classic going to a two-man team format earlier this fall and after watching this weekend’s World Cup of Golf in Australia, we reached out to our faithful social media followers to find out what other formats professional golf tournaments should explore.

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As is always the case, you did not let us down. Here are a few of the fantastic ideas:

Throwback tournament

From Facebook - “Norma Jean Bloom: I would love to see a tournament played with old pre 1950's equipment.”

During summer weekends at The Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village just outside of Detroit, baseball enthusiasts gather to watch the game played as if it were 1867. Think Civil War battle reenactments, but with baseball instead of rifles. It’s pretty cool, and makes you appreciate how far the game has come over the past 150 years (They didn’t use gloves back then. Ouch.)

So, why not have a golf tournament that takes the pros of today and some of the heritage of golf’s yesteryear and put them together each fall after the tour seasons are over. Imagine Bubba Watson hitting off the tee with a 1-iron and Jason Day putting with an old blade putter. How about Rickie Fowler trading in his trendy modern apparel for some knickers and an old-fashioned cap? He'd still pull it off awesome and I'm sure create some fantastic Snapchat stories.

The European Tour gave us a peek at what this might look like, as Lee Westwood, Danny Willet and Miguel Angel Jimenez took on World Hickory Champ Paolo Quirici in a two-hole exhibition earlier this year.

 

 

Co-ed team event

I’m a big fan of this idea. Some might say the ladies can’t keep up with the men’s game and this idea would be awful. To steal a phrase from VP Joe Biden, that’s a bunch of malarky.

I’d love to see the top LPGA players and the top PGA players team up and battle on the course. Dustin Johnson and Lexi Thompson on a team? No course would be long enough to handle that driving power. Watch out as the top-ranked duo from down under — Jason Day (Australia) and Lydia Ko (New Zealand) — masterfully maneuver around the course. And a team of Cristie Kerr and Jordan Spieth would be entertaining to mic up and get a lesson on golf course self-talk (and talking to the golf ball). Not only would this be a fun team event, it would be a great way to give exposure to the game for young boys and girls around the world.

Par 3 event

From Facebook — Justin Sampson: "How about a Par 3 event? Putting at a premium"

We have the Masters par 3 tournament and it’s fun to watch, so why not have more of a good thing? Maybe combine it with the European Tour’s recent exhibition event and make it all under the lights? And of course keep the fire. Please, more fire. 

 

 

Nothing but 7-iron tournament

 

 

Yes, yes, and yes. This idea won my 1st place award for most fun and creative tournament. When my dad and I go golfing and things go awry, he always goes back to his 7 iron. Teeing off on a 500 yard hole? 7 iron. Chipping from 40 yards? 7 iron. I haven’t seen him putt yet with it, but I’m still holding out hope. I’m sure many others can relate to this feeling. Why not see how well the pros can play our game of trying to survive 18 holes? It might be inspiring to see that one day, you could turn pro with just your 7 iron.